Down Goes Brown: A brief history of teams getting blown out in the Stanley Cup Final (2024)

So that was, uh, interesting.

Coming off a thrilling Game 1 battle that felt like a borderline classic, the Lightning and Avalanche served up a plot twist in Game 2, with Colorado caving in the defending champs to the tune of 7-0. It was a stunning spectacle, as a Tampa team that’s seemed almost invincible over the years got lit up like they were an undermanned beer league squad.

So now what?

It goes without saying that nobody is counting the Lightning out. They just came back from a 2-0 series deficit against New York in the last round, and they’ve earned the benefit of the doubt. After the way the last three seasons have played out, plenty of us won’t be ready to close the door on Tampa until the final buzzer sounds on their fourth loss. Maybe not even then.

But still … Game 2 wasn’t just another loss. It was an all-time butt-kicking, one of the most lopsided results in Stanley Cup Final history. And that had me wondering: Can we learn anything from similar games, and how the rest of the series played out after a major blowout?

Let’s find out. Before Saturday night, there had been 14 games in Stanley Cup Final history in which one team scored at least seven goals while winning by at least five. Four of those were from the olden days, and we probably can’t learn much from them. That leaves us with a nice even 10 games from the post-expansion era to look at.

Maybe we’ll find a pattern heading into tonight’s Game 3. Or maybe we’ll just remember some blowouts.

1973, Game 1: Canadiens 8, Blackhawks 3

The series: The 1973 final was a rematch of the deeply weird 1971 edition, which had seen the Habs win the Cup in seven games and then immediately fire their coach for it. This time, Montreal came in as overwhelming favorites, having posted 120 points in just 70 games during the season. The Hawks were good, having won the West Division, but they had their work cut out for them.

The game: This one actually looked like it was going to be a blowout in the other direction, as the Hawks scored twice in the game’s first minute to take a 2-0 lead. It was all Montreal after that, though, with two goals from Jacques Lemaire and multi-point games from names like Guy Lafleur, Frank Mahovlich and Yvan Cournoyer chasing Tony Esposito from the Chicago net.

The rest of the way: Things settled down in Game 2, with Montreal winning 4-1. The Hawks got some revenge with a 7-4 win in Game 3, lost Game 4, and then won a truly wacky 8-7 classic at the Forum to stay alive in Game 5 before Montreal finished the series in six.

The lesson: I’m not sure there is one, as this series had plenty of twists and turns still waiting in the wings. If you’re a Tampa fan, that’s probably what you want to hear.

1980, Game 2: Flyers 8, Islanders 3

The series: The 1980 final was a good one, and the Flyers were the favorites. This was the year they’d had that ridiculous 35-game undefeated streak, helping them to first-place overall in the standings. The Islanders had finished well back, and were laboring under the reputation of a regular-season powerhouse that could never win the big one.

The game: Game 1 was a 4-3 overtime classic — wait, that sounds familiar — that the Islanders won on a Denis Potvin goal. Needing a strong performance to even the series, the Flyers got four points from Bobby Clarke and a hat trick from Paul Holmgren, and probably also some stuff from guys who didn’t go on to become their GM.

The rest of the way: The Islanders essentially shrugged off the loss, heading home to win both Games 3 and 4 by comfortable margins. The Flyers extended the series in Game 5, but the Islanders captured their first Cup on Bob Nystrom’s overtime game winner in Game 6.

(And since Flyers fans will set my house on fire if I don’t mention it — yes, Game 6 is also the Leon Stickle game.)

At the time, it felt like an upset. In hindsight, not so much, as this was the start of the Islanders dynasty that featured four straight Cup wins.

The lesson: More good news for today’s Lightning fans, as we hit our first example of a team on the wrong end of a blowout still winning the series. Even better, it’s another Game 2 where the losing team gets to head back home. And since we’re already comparing the current Lightning to the dynasty-era Islanders, it’s almost too perfect.

Feels inspiring, right Tampa fans? You may want to stop reading right about now …

1984, Game 3: Oilers 7, Islanders 2

The series: Yes, it’s the very same Oilers/Islanders matchup we’ve been using as the comparison to this year’s Avs/Lightning, with the veteran dynasty meeting the young champs-in-waiting. The two teams had met in the 1983 final, with the Islanders sweeping. This was the rematch, and the two teams had split the first two games.

The game: The Islanders opened the scoring, but it was all Oilers from that moment on. Even given all Edmonton’s talent, it was a stunning result — we hadn’t seen the Islanders lose a playoff game like this since that 1980 loss to the Flyers.

The rest of the way: We all nodded grimly about the Islanders having the heart of a champion, and how they’d surely respond with their best game of the series. And then …

1984, Game 4: Oilers 7, Islanders 2

The series: No, that’s not a typo. This is the same blowout happening all over again in the very next game of the same series.

The game: Wayne Gretzky opened the scoring two minutes in, and we were right back to the all-Edmonton show. The Oilers were up 6-1 by the midway mark, and the Islanders looked utterly defeated.

The rest of the way: With Game 5 in Edmonton (these were the days of the 2-3-2 format), this one almost felt like a foregone conclusion before the puck even dropped. It mostly was, with Gretzky scoring twice in the first and the Oilers leading 4-0 at the second intermission. The Islanders did show some of that heart, with two Pat LaFontaine goals early in the third, but it was over. The two blowouts were the moment the young Oilers served noticed that it was their time, and the Islanders’ dynasty was over. Almost four decades later, they’ve never been back to a final.

The lesson: Look, Lightning fans, I told you to stop reading.

1985, Game 5: Oilers 8, Flyers 3

The series: A year after beating the Islanders, now it was the Oilers looking to defend their title. But they had to get past an excellent Flyers team to do it. (Look, I promise this post will feature teams other than the Oilers, Islanders and Flyers, just stick with it.)

The game: The Flyers had taken Game 1 before dropping three straight, although all of them were close. This one wasn’t, as the Oilers led 4-1 after one period and 7-2 after two.

The rest of the way: There wasn’t one, as this blowout ended the series.

The lesson: If you’re rooting for Tampa, or just a long series, I guess the takeaway here is that at least Saturday night didn’t actually end the series. Yet.

1990, Game 2: Oilers 7, Bruins 2

The series: This was the post-Gretzky Oilers, returning to the final after a one-year absence and looking for their fifth Cup in seven years. Standing in their way was Ray Bourque and the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Bruins, who were the slight favorites. The first game had been a triple-overtime classic, ending on a goal by unlikely hero Petr Klima.

The game: The Bruins fell behind 2-0 early but rallied to tie it. Edmonton didn’t pull away until late in the second, scoring three goals in four minutes to go up 6-2.

The rest of the way: Boston did win Game 3, squeaking out a 2-1 win, but they’d follow that with lackluster performances in Game 4 and 5 to lose the series.

The lesson: This one stings a little if you’re a Lightning fan, since it feels so familiar. You’ve got the Game 1 comeback followed by the heartbreaking loss in overtime, then the Game 2 blowout. If anything, the depressing lesson here is that even a win in Game 3 may not do much more than prolong the inevitable.

(Also, losing this series eventually leads to Bourque requesting a trade and ending up in Colorado, so this was probably every Avalanche fan’s favorite section in this post.)

1991, Game 6: Penguins 8, North Stars 0

The series: The 1990-91 North Stars were quite possibly the greatest Cinderella story in NHL playoff history, a genuinely awful team that hit its stride just in time to pull off three major upsets in a row. That led to a Stanley Cup Final date with Mario Lemieux and the Penguins, a mediocre regular-season team with jaw-dropping star power including eight Hall of Famers.

The North Stars gave them a series but couldn’t stop Mario because nobody could back then, and were trailing 3-2 heading into Game 6 in Minnesota.

The game: The Penguins scored two minutes in and never stopped, posting the most lopsided blowout in Stanley Cup Final history.

The rest of the way: The North Stars got beat so bad that a week later, they were taken apart in a dispersal draft. (No, really, that happened. The 1990s NHL was weird.)

The lesson: The Avalanche might not be the Penguins and the Lightning sure aren’t the North Stars, so I’m not sure there’s anything we can really learn here. But we should still point out the obvious: We’re seven games into this list, and this is the first blowout that was actually as bad as what we saw on Saturday. All the other games, as bad as they were, ended in five-goal deficits. There’s still lots of hockey left to play, but Game 2 really was historically one-sided.

1996, Game 2: Avalanche 8, Panthers 1

The series: This was the Avs’ first year in Colorado, with the newly-acquired Patrick Roy in net and a talented roster in front of him. They faced an underdog Panthers team that had clutched and grabbed its way to the final because they had been inspired by a dead rat. Look, I told you the 1990s NHL was weird.

The Avs took the opener 3-1, setting up Game 2 in Colorado.

The game: Peter Forsberg’s first-period hat trick, which to this day remains the last one in Cup Final history, jump-started the Avalanche and led to this one being a laugher. When Jon Klemm is scoring multiple goals against you, it’s bad.

The rest of the way: The Panthers settled down heading back home, but it didn’t matter. Games 3 and 4 were close (with Game 4 going into overtime), but the Avalanche won both to capture the franchise’s first championship in a four-game sweep.

The lesson: If you’re a team from Florida and you lose a Game 2 blowout in Colorado, don’t even bother trying the rest of the way because you’re doomed.

Also, thanks to the 1996 Panthers ushering in the Dead Puck era, we now get to skip ahead 15 years to find our next game …

2011, Game 3: Bruins 8, Canucks 1

The series: The Presidents’ Trophy-winning Canucks entered the series as strong favorites over the Bruins, then earned a 2-0 series lead with a pair of squeakers in Vancouver. Heading to Boston for Game 3, the Bruins needed a win.

The game: This one was actually scoreless through one, but all Bruins after that. They scored four unanswered goals in the second, then kept pouring it on in the third.

The rest of the way: More than any other series we’ve seen so far, this is the one where the blowout game really did feel like the inflection point. The Bruins won Game 4 by a 4-0 final, and while the Canucks did earn a 1-0 win in Game 5, it was the only one they’d get the rest of the way as the Bruins went on to capture the Cup in seven games. Boston outscored Vancouver 13-3 in the four games after this blowout.

The lesson: This is a fun one, because it can go either way. Avalanche fans can see it as proof that a true blowout really can be series-defining, the sort of thing that even a team as good as that 2011 Canucks squad just can’t be expected to bounce back from. Lightning fans could point out that all we learned was that a 2-0 series lead doesn’t mean a thing, and a strong Game 3 back on home ice can change the course of a series.

But yeah, the real lesson here is that if the Bruins win a Game 3 by a blowout, they’re definitely winning the Cup. Gosh, I wonder what the last game on our list will be …

2019, Game 3: Bruins 7, Blues 2

The series: After splitting the first two in Boston, the Gloria-inspired Blues returned home to host a final game for the first time in 49 years.

The game: A last-second goal in the first period gave the Bruins a 3-0 lead and seemed to deflate the Blues and their crowd. They’d roll from there on, delivering a statement win.

The rest of the way: Do you even remember this game? I’m assuming that Blues and Bruins fans do, but it barely resonates with me even though it’s so recent. That’s because it really didn’t have much impact, with the Blues winning the next two games, followed by the Bruins forcing a Game 7 in Boston that the Blues won.

The lesson: Sometimes, a blowout is just a blowout, and two good teams move past it.

So what did we learn?

A few interesting things, I hope. For one, that Saturday night blowout really was one for the history books — it was only the fourth time in Stanley Cup Final history that a team had lost by seven or more. And in each of the other three cases — 1991, 1996 and 2011 — the team that won the big blowout went on to win the series. In fact, the team on the losing end only went on to win one more game combined, with five losses.

The outlook gets a little bit better for Tampa if we look at the overall list, although just a little bit. Of the nine series we just looked at, the team that won the blowout game went on to win seven. That opens the door to some hope for the Lightning, who can look at the 1980 Islanders or the 2019 Blues for inspiration. That 2019 final is probably the best example for the “one game is no big deal” crowd; it’s the most recent, and the blowout barely ended up mattering.

But generally speaking, blowouts in the Stanley Cup Final do seem to tell us something, and it’s that one of the teams is really good. We already knew that with the Avalanche. Now we see whether the Lightning can do the unlikely — but not the impossible — by digging their way back.

(Top photo: Isaiah J. Downing / USA Today)